Lithuanian-Danish Drone Maker Monopulse Lands EUR 1.12M to Expand Europe’s Next-Gen UAV Production

• Lithuanian National Development Bank ILTE loaned Monopulse EUR 1.12M to expand defense-focused UAV production capacity
• Founders combine defense engineering and drone racing expertise to design secure, modular UAVs
• All critical components come from allied nations, ensuring security, reliability, and supply-chain integrity
• The new funding allows the company to expand facilities in Lithuania and Denmark and supports potential scaling into civilian markets and broader European demand

This November, the Lithuanian-Danish UAV manufacturer MNP Technologijos / Monopulse secured EUR 1.12M of financing. The funding is a loan from Lithuanian National Development Bank ILTE, issued under its Billion for Business program aimed at supporting national developers of high value-added products, digital transformation, and growth in the defense industry.

Founders With Complementary Backgrounds Engineering Advanced UAV for Modern Missions

Justas Poderys (CEO) and Alexander Rietz Vesterhauge (Chief Mechanical Engineer) started MNP Technologijos / Monopulse in 2022. Before starting this company, Mr Poderys worked for several large defense and security companies in systems engineering. At one point, his team got to pitch drones as a useful platform for various operational scenarios and stumbled into a wall of disbelief — and that’s how the seed that later became Monopulse was planted on his side. As for Mr Vesterhauge, he comes from a background of mechanical engineering and spare-time drone racing, leading to a deep understanding of how high-performance, robust drones could be designed.

The company MNP Technologijos operates under the brand name Monopulse, so the two names are mostly interchangeable. ‘The very first product we wanted to develop was a radio decoy carried by a drone to fool incoming anti-ship missiles that use monopulse radar to track their targets. The name sounded cool at the time — and it stuck,’ Mr Poderys recalls.

Monopulse’s Falcon-series NATO Class I (Mini) UAVs feature a modular construction that enables fast field repairs and straightforward part replacement. These drones are designed for surveillance and reconnaissance missions, offering a 15 km operating range, night-vision capability, and communication systems that maintain control even under GPS-jamming conditions.

A Security-First Architecture

To ensure maximum data security, Falcon models function without any connection to cloud service providers; all captured imagery remains stored solely on the aircraft itself, minimizing cybersecurity risks and ensuring sensitive mission information stays fully contained within the UAV.

‘It starts at the source-code stage. We have multiple systems constantly running security scans to ensure that nothing unexpected slips into the codebase. Once the code is deployed to the drones, we encrypt and sign all data transmitted over the radio link. This ensures that nobody can intercept our communications or inject unauthorized commands,’ Mr Poderys explains.

Allied Supply Chains and In-House Component Mastery

All critical components for Monopulse’s drones are sourced exclusively from allied countries to maintain a secure and reliable supply chain, while designing and manufacturing every essential part in-house, including cameras and the flight-control computer.

‘Due to geopolitical uncertainties, it is preferable to keep as much of the supply chain in allied countries as possible, especially given recent examples of hardware coming from China, which had backdoors open, allowing data to be transferred to the manufacturer without user consent. Monopulse is committed to data security for our clients, which is why critical components handling data are designed in-house and do not have cloud connectivity,’ Mr Vesterhauge notes.

‘Currently, no components in Monopulse products are sourced from Ukraine, partly because it’s difficult to get them due to Ukrainian export controls, understandably. This is gradually changing, which means it is likely that UAV technology from Ukraine will find its way into Monopulse products at some point,’ he continues.

A Defense Landscape Demanding Agility and Rapid Innovation

Monopulse’s UAVs are finding their way to customers across the Scandinavian and Baltic countries and farther into Western Europe. The company also collaborates closely with Ukrainian partners whose frontline experience provides vital insights for rapid product improvement and adaptation to evolving battlefield needs.

The CEO notes that the war in Ukraine underscored the critical role of IT infrastructure in modern conflict, while emphasizing that the pace of technological change has become the industry’s greatest challenge. Although procurement practices are shifting, many countries are still adapting to a new defense environment that demands faster buying processes and more agile decision-making.

Upscaling National Tech Sovereignty

According to ILTE’s head of client financing division Giedrė Gečiauskienė, Monopulse’s work aligns closely with ILTE’s strategic goals to support businesses that generate real value for the state, enhance European security, and advance technological independence. 

‘The growth of the defence technology sector in Lithuania is vital for strengthening national security and boosting the resilience of the country’s economy. As such, our EUR 1.12M loan was allocated to expand production capacity in a strategic area of the defence sector and to fulfill existing orders for both Lithuanian and international markets,’ Mr Gečiauskienė tells ITkeyMedia.

In view of the new funding, Monopulse is gradually expanding its development and production capacity in Denmark and Lithuania, which involves moving into bigger facilities with space for manufacturing and assembly work. Mr Vesterhauge shares that a site has been chosen in Kaunas, which will house hardware and software development, prototyping, and assembly. In Denmark, a site is yet to be chosen, which will house mechanical engineering as well as final assembly, quality control, and testing. The Kaunas site is expected to be active before the end of this year, while the Danish facility should go live in Q1 2026.

‘Long-term, we hope to bring manufacturing of more components in-house, including motors, to improve supply chain robustness,’ Mr Vesterhauge remarks.

Preparing for Civilian Expansion and Aiming for European Market Leadership

In the coming years, Monopulse promises to introduce its products to civilian markets, including security, emergency response, and critical infrastructure monitoring. The company’s planned product line-up, which includes a novel hybrid UAV/USV platform, should cover an even wider range of industries and serve applications within several more areas, such as river surveying for climate change monitoring and maritime environments for underwater infrastructure surveillance.

‘Our aim is for Monopulse to become the leading manufacturer of multirotor UAVs in Europe across defense and civilian markets with unique value propositions tailored to a wide variety of applications,’ Mr Vesterhauge concludes. ‘My dream is to reach a point where whenever a government needs a multicopter drone, Monopulse is the first name that comes to mind,’ Mr Poderys adds.

Monopulse’s work highlights how rapidly evolving security challenges demand agile, resilient, and technologically sovereign UAV solutions developed within trusted ecosystems. By combining in-house engineering, secure supply chains, and close collaboration with frontline partners, the company strengthens both national defense capabilities and Europe’s broader technological independence. As Monopulse scales across sectors and borders, its innovations stand to shape not only the future of military readiness but also the reliability and safety of critical civilian operations.